Blood of Enemies, Blood of Friends
Chapter 42 – Teen Angst
After dinner on Monday evening, Shannon and Harry sat alone in a quiet corner of the common room. Shannon had promised her boyfriend that they would talk, when she returned to Hogwarts after their weekend in Las Vegas. Harry could tell that Shannon was nervous, and this made him nervous as well.
Shannon spoke softly. "Do you remember before the Yule Ball, when we had that girls' night in the Scooby common room?" she asked.
"Yes," replied Harry.
"Well, we got talking about sex that night, or more specifically how we would know when we were ready. Cat, Professor Bolgya, gave us all some very good advice. She said that if we were ready to have sex, then we should be mature enough to discuss it openly beforehand."
"That makes sense," said Harry, though he was feeling uncomfortable.
"The thing is, Harry, I like you a lot. I'm pretty sure that I am in love with you." Shannon looked at him expectantly.
Harry smiled. "Shannon, I think I am in love with you too. I mean, I have never felt this deeply about anyone before. I can't imagine my life without you in it, and I am pretty sure that is love."
Shannon smiled and nodded. "So, the thing is that I have been thinking about taking our relationship to the next level."
"You mean sex," said Harry in a near whisper.
Shannon nodded. "Yes. Not right now, I'm not ready quite yet, but I know it will be soon."
"Which means that now, we should be able to talk about it," said Harry, understanding what Shannon was getting at.
"Exactly," she replied. "So, have you ever?"
"No," replied Harry. "You?"
"Yes."
"What?" Harry practically shouted. Shannon visibly cringed.
"Please let me explain," she said. Harry just stared at her. "A little more than a year ago, it really sunk in that I could be called as the next Slayer. That would give me a life expectancy of eighteen. I got this crazy idea in my head that if I was going to die that young, then I was going to experience everything before then. I did a lot of crazy things, one of which was sleeping with some guy I picked up in a bar."
"You just went out and slept with the first guy you could find?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Pretty much. Afterwards, I realized how big of a mistake I had made. I wasn't ready for sex, and even if I had been, that wasn't the way it should have been," Shannon explained.
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Harry.
"Because if we are going to take our relationship to the next level, I need to be totally honest with you about my past." Harry sat silently for a long moment. "Please say something," Shannon implored.
Harry looked at her with unshed tears glistening in his eyes. "I thought you were better than this," he spat at her. "I can't deal with you right now." Harry stood, and then stormed up to his dormitory, leaving Shannon sitting in shock. After several minutes, she too retreated to her dormitory, curled up on her bed and cried.
Dawn and Hermione found Shannon still crying on her bed nearly an hour later. "What's wrong?" asked Dawn, sitting beside her best friend and placing a comforting hand on Shannon's shoulder.
"I told Harry about that guy I slept with, and he freaked out and stormed away. I don't think he is going to forgive me," Shannon moaned through her tears.
Hermione sat on the other side of Shannon's bed. "There is nothing for him to forgive. You didn't even know him then."
"Mione's right," added Dawn. "I'm sure Harry will come around, and if he doesn't, well then, you deserve better anyway." Shannon sniffled loudly.
"I've known Harry for six years. When things don't go perfectly his way, he tends to brood, but he always come through in the end. Give him some time, and I am sure everything will work out ok," explained Hermione.
Shannon sat up and looked at her two friends. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better, but right now I would really like to be left alone for awhile."
Dawn and Hermione nodded. "If you need anything," said Hermione. "Don't hesitate to come find us," finished Dawn. The two girls then left Shannon to brood on her own.
As they walked down the stairs, Hermione spoke. "I think we need to go find Harry and talk some sense into him. I meant what I said about him brooding, but the longer he broods the worse his reaction is going to get." Dawn nodded her agreement, and the two girls set off in search of Harry.
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When Harry had retreated to his dormitory, he found Ron laying across his bed working on an essay for his Muggle Studies class. "Hey, Harry, what's up?" Ron asked his best friend.
"I don't want to talk about it," said Harry in exasperation.
"Talk about what?" asked Ron, who was confused by Harry's outburst.
"My slut of a girlfriend," spat Harry.
Ron sat up abruptly. "What are you talking about, mate?"
"Uh, never mind," said Harry. He was not ready to discuss what he was feeling, considering he was not even sure what he was feeling. He grabbed his firebolt and headed out of the room. Ron, concerned about Harry's state of mind, grabbed his own broom and followed his best friend all the way down to the quidditch pitch.
The pitch was empty save for a lone figure on a broom. "Great, Malfoy, that's all I need," moaned Harry. Draco landed beside the two Gryffindors. "What are you doing out here, Malfoy?" asked Harry.
Draco shrugged. "I always come out to fly, when I need to think."
"Let me guess," said Harry. "Dawn told you all about the men she was with before you. Typical girls have to do everything at the same time."
Draco now looked as confused as Ron did. "What are you talking about, Potter?" he asked.
Harry finally lost it. He sunk down on his knees with his head in his hands. Ron and Draco shared a concerned look. They each grabbed one of Harry's arms and hoisted him off the cold, wet ground. The two boys dragged Harry toward the bleachers, where they sat him down. "Okay," said Ron, "now start from the beginning."
Harry explained to them everything that Shannon had told him. Harry thought that he would get support from Ron and Draco, but was sadly disappointed to find that the other two boys did not think he had the right to be angry with Shannon.
"Um, Harry," said Draco, "she didn't even know you back then."
"And, isn't everyone entitled to make some mistakes," added Ron.
"Not to mention it took guts to tell you the truth. She could've kept it from you," said Draco.
Harry was now more annoyed than before, not only was he upset with his girlfriends but he was also upset with Ron and Draco, not that being upset with Malfoy was anything new, but he expected more from Ron. "How would either of you feel if Hermione or Dawn told you they slept with some other guy?" questioned Harry. Ron's ears grew red, and Harry knew he had gotten to him. Draco did not look totally comfortable either.
Before either Ron or Draco could reply, Dawn and Hermione approached the three boys in the bleachers. "We need to talk to you Harry," said Hermione.
"Here to plead Shannon's case," said Harry. "I don't want to hear it."
"Harry," started Hermione, but she was interrupted by Ron. "Not now, Mione."
She immediately turned on her boyfriend. "Oh, so I guess you are siding with Harry. How dare a woman have any kind of past. Talk about a double standard."
Hermione was about to launch into a lecture about gender equality, but Ron interrupted her again. "I did not say that, but I kind of understand where Harry is coming from."
"So, you're saying that if you found out I was with someone before you, you would leave me," said Hermione.
Ron was getting annoyed. He did not want to fight with Hermione. He was just trying to diffuse the situation. "It doesn't matter, since you haven't been with anyone before me," he said in a dangerously low voice.
Hermione lost it. "You're so sure about that Ron. You aren't exactly my first boyfriend."
"Don't you dare even say the name Viktor Krum," shouted Ron.
"I won't, because whether or not I slept with Viktor is done of your business." Hermione turned on her heal and stormed away across the quidditch pitch.
Draco and Dawn had silently watched the exchange between Ron and Hermione. When Draco and Dawn finally turned to look at each other, Dawn spoke. "Do you have anything to say to me?"
"Yes," said Draco, as Dawn held her breath. "I love you. I don't care what you have or have not done prior to becoming my girlfriend. If there are things in your past that you would like to tell me, I will listen. If there are things that you do not want to tell me, it is your right to have secrets about parts of your life that do not concern me. The only thing that matters to me is the time that we have been together, and I trust that you have been completely faithful to me as I have been to you."
Dawn let out the breath she had been holding. She threw her arms around Draco and kissed him. "I love you too," she said, "and everything you said applies to how I feel about you too." She kissed him again. "Now, I better go find Hermione." Dawn also left the bleachers, though unlike her friends, she was actually in a good mood.
"What the hell was that?" Harry asked Draco. "You can't possibly not care if she has been with someone before you."
"I'm not saying that I wouldn't be jealous, but it wouldn't change how I feel about Dawn," replied Draco matter-of-factly. "And, it sure wouldn't be worth losing her over."
Ron stood up. "Where are you going?" asked Harry.
"I can't believe I am saying this, but Malfoy is right. Whether or not Mione slept with the Bulgarian git, she is with me now and I love her. So, I am going to find her, apologize, and hope that she forgives me." Ron walked off in the direction that Hermione had gone minutes earlier.
Harry picked up his firebolt. He decided to fly for a while. Draco also picked up his broom, but with the intention of heading back to the castle. "Potter, think about what I said. Shannon is nice girl. She doesn't deserve to be punished for a mistake she made before she ever met you." Before Harry could reply, Draco was out of earshot.
The logical part of Harry's mind told him that Draco and Ron were right, but he still felt angry and knew that he would not be ready to face Shannon anytime soon.
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Hermione had returned to the sixth year girls' dormitory to find Shannon still sitting on her bed. Shannon noticed that Hermione was in a state. "What's wrong, Mione?"
"I think I just gave Ron the impression that I slept with Viktor," said Hermione in a dazed sort of voice.
"But you're a virgin," Shannon reminded her.
Hermione snapped to attention. "I know that."
"Then why does Ron think otherwise?" asked Shannon, who was happy to focus on someone else's relationship problems.
"He was siding with Harry, and it just made me so mad. Then Ron and I started arguing, and I don't know what happened," moaned Hermione as she sunk down onto her bed.
"You need to tell Ron the truth," said Shannon.
"I know," moaned Hermione. "But, I need to give him time to calm down first."
The two girls sat in silence until they heard a knock on the door. Hermione answered it to see Ron standing in the hallway. "How did you get up here?" she asked. Ron held up his broom in reply. Hermione nodded. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Mione, we need to talk," replied Ron. She followed him out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "Mione, I'm sorry about everything that I said. I'm not going to lie and tell you that the thought of you sleeping with Viktor doesn't hurt, but it doesn't change how I feel about you. All that matters is that we are together. I love you, and I don't ever want to lose you. Please forgive me."
Hermione threw her arms around Ron. "I love you too, and you are totally forgiven." The young couple kissed deeply for several minutes. Hermione pulled away first and spoke. "Ron, about Viktor. . . "
Ron cut her off. "I don't need to know."
Hermione smiled. "But I need to tell you." Ron prepared himself for the blow. "He kissed me, once, after the Yule Ball. That's it. I wasn't ready for sex then, and I'm not ready for it now, but even if I was, I could only be with someone I love, and I never loved Viktor."
Ron released the breath that he had not realized he had been holding. He pulled Hermione into a tight hug. "Just so you know, I want to with you, but I know that I'm not ready either. Besides, we have the rest our lives to be intimate with each other."
Hermione couldn't help but smile as she kissed Ron. As she pulled away, she whispered in his ear. "Someday, when I am ready, I want it to be you."
Ron blushed. "I better get going. Wouldn't want to be caught in the girls' dormitory." Hermione nodded and reentered her room.
As Ron walked down the hallway in a daze, he passed Dawn. She had gotten sidetracked by her sister on her way back from the quidditch pitch. "What are you doing here?" she asked Ron.
He gave Dawn a goofy smile. "I'm going to marry that girl someday," he said before walking off toward the stairs.
Dawn shook her head and entered the dormitory. She found Shannon and Hermione sitting quietly working on homework. "Hey, Mione, Ron just said the weirdest thing," Dawn informed her friend.
****************
The next few days passed uneventfully. Shannon and Harry were still not speaking. Harry found himself confiding in Ginny Weasley. Unlike his other friends, she did not judge him on his feelings. She simply listened to him, while he struggled to work out what he wanted.
After several days of listening to Harry moan about Shannon, Ginny asked him a single question. They were sitting on a bench out by the lake, and Harry had been talking about the same things that he had already told Ginny at least ten times. "Harry, do you love her?"
"Of course, that's why this hurts so much," he replied without any hesitation.
"Then you know what you have to do," said Ginny. Harry simply nodded, and the two teens walked back toward the castle.
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While Harry had been spending time with Ginny, Shannon found herself spending her free time with Andrew. Dawn and Hermione were both being supportive of their friend, but Shannon did not think that it was fair to keep them away from Draco and Ron, just because she and Harry were having issues.
Shannon found herself sitting with Andrew late into the night in the Gryffindor common room. In order to distract herself, she was helping Andrew with one of his D&D game ideas.
"I noticed that you haven't been spending much time with Ginny," Shannon mused. "Is everything okay with you two?"
Andrew smiled at his friend. "We are fine. We broke up just after Valentine's day."
Shannon's eyes darted to Andrew's face, but she did not see any sadness there. "What happened?" she asked. "I mean you don't seem too upset."
"I'm not upset at all," replied Andrew. "Ginny is a great girl. She and I always had fun together, and we could talk about anything. We just realized that we didn't need to be dating for that. We really didn't have any romantic feelings for each other. We were more like friends than boyfriend-girlfriend. So, we decided to just be friends, and we are both really happy about it." Shannon looked skeptical. "Besides," added Andrew, "we realized that there were other people we would rather be with, and now we are both seeing those other people."
"Come on, Andrew. You have to give me details," said Shannon. She was happily distracted at the moment.
"Well, you remember at the Valentine's dance, we sat with Neville and Luna. The following week the four of us spent a lot of time hanging out. I found that I had a lot more in common with Luna than with Ginny, and Ginny found herself really attracted to Neville. It all worked out for the best. Ginny and Neville are taking their time getting to know each other, and Luna and I are officially dating. You need to get to know her sometime. She is a bit quirky, but really cute and a lot of fun."
"I'm so happy for you," said Shannon, giving Andrew a quick hug.
"Now, we just have to find a way to make you equally as happy," Andrew told her. Shannon sighed. "It will work itself out," Andrew assured her. He may not be dating Ginny anymore, but he meant it when he said they were still close friends, and he knew that she was slowly working on helping Harry come around.
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At the end of the week Xander, Anya, Faith, and Robin returned from their mini-honeymoons. Professor Dumbledore made a point of speaking to the two couples before dinner that evening. "I believe congratulations are in order to all of you," he said jovially. The four Scoobies thanked Dumbledore.
"I have a few questions for the four of you," he continued. "First, though I usually do not believe in giving students information about faculty members' personal lives, this is a happy occasion, and I was wondering if you would allow me to announce your marriages to the student body during dinner this evening."
"I have no problem with that," said Robin.
"I want everyone to share in our happiness," added Faith.
"What they said," commented Xander, as Anya nodded in agreement.
Dumbledore smiled broadly, his eyes twinkling. "I would also like to ask if Faith and Anya have changed their names. I would like to inform the students of the proper names to call you."
"Well, I was going by the name of a father figure," said Faith. "So, I definitely am happy to take my husband's name." Robin smiled.
"And my maiden name was just made up anyway," explained Anya. "In fact, at one point I changed it from one made up name to another. Besides, I definitely want Xander's name." Xander smiled as well.
"Very well then," said Dumbledore. "Mr. and Mrs. Wood and Mr. and Mrs. Harris, I shall see you at dinner."
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Shannon and Harry missed Dumbledore's announcement at dinner, though the whole school talked about it for several days. The two teens had decided to skip dinner, so that they would have the common room to themselves to talk.
They sat in silence for several minutes before Harry spoke. "I'm sorry, Shannon," he said. "I'm sorry for the things that I said to you and for taking so long to apologize."
"Harry, talk to me. Tell me what you're feeling," Shannon requested.
"I realized that it wasn't about what you have done in the past. That was just an excuse." Shannon looked confused. Harry continued. He knew that if he did not say everything now, he might lose her. "Shannon, I have lost everyone that I ever loved – my parents, Sirius. When I realized that I loved you, I wasn't happy. I was scared. I used a mistake in your past to push you away, to try to save myself from getting hurt when I lost you later. I'm so sorry, and I understand if you can't forgive me." With these final words, tears began to slide down Harry's cheeks.
"I'm scared of losing someone else I love too," said Shannon. "But, I would rather have happiness with someone I love for a short time, than to live the rest of my life alone because I am too afraid to love someone. I do forgive you, Harry. But you have to promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"That next time, when you're scared, you tell me the truth. We can get through so much more together than apart."
"I love you, Shannon."
"I love you too, Harry." Shannon wiped the tears from Harry's cheeks, then leaned forward and kissed him.
"So do you still want to take our relationship to the next level?" Harry asked in a half-joking manner.
"Not quite yet, but soon," Shannon replied, and then kissed him again.